Melbourne 4.3 6.6 12.9 15.14 104 Collingwood 3.2 10.5 12.8 15.10 100
Selection
Collingwood got a pretty bad physical beating against Freo; Daniel Wells, Tyson Goldsack and Jamie Elliott were all unavailable for this match. So to some extent, the selectors' hands were forced. However they also dropped Jackson Ramsay bringing in Callum Brown, Alex Fasolo, James Aish and Tom Langdon.
The Footy Bogan has always believed that stability is one of the important markers of a successful team. He could see no justification for adding to the forced disruption. It may have been only one extra change, but seen from the distance of the cheap seats (well, not really that cheap) it seemed gratuitous and risky.
Fasolo was a fairly natural replacement for Elliott; Aish might have covered Wells.
But The Footy Bogan was broken-hearted at the selection of Langdon, who has no place in this (or perhaps any) team. If a replacement for Goldsack was what the selectors had in mind, he would have gone with Schade.
Ramsay would have remained in the team and Brown would have had to wait a little longer. Footy's a tough game.
Teams don't return well from a road trip to Perth. Perhaps it was that. Perhaps it was a case of player management. But not Langdon!
The Demons were without Gawn and Hogan.
Q1
Collingwood started positively with a well-constructed goal after Pendlebury found Greenwood. Then a clanger from Sidebottom at half back gifted the Demons a goal in return. Sidebottom tried again with his left foot a little later and managed to get that kick smothered.
Collingwood players kept flirting with their form, taking unnecessary risks and paying the price in turnovers - and eventually another goal to Melbourne.
Sometimes it seemed the Pies were playing to a formula. It's one thing to try to centre the ball; but to thread the needle is a risky gambit when it gains almost nothing else. The whole point is to try to get an overlap.
With exactly 1:00 on the clock, De Goey has enough time to select the better of 2 choices. There's an unattended Greenwood on a flank (from where he has already slotted 2 goals); and there's the Hail Mary to Fasolo probably 60m away, 20m out, directly in front of goal. When he chooses the latter (worse) option, the play unfolds predictably. By the time the ball reaches Fasolo he is competing with two opponents. The ball spills, Fasolo and a Demon on the ground, Adams and 2 Demons chasing the crumbs. It turns out to be a potential 12-point play. Greenwood may or may not have been able to make something of his play; but in any case, it would have been the last play of the quarter. As it was, Collingwood capped off the quarter with the unpardonable sin of giving away a free in the Demons' forward line on the siren. Goal.
So Collingwood went into the first break 7 points down, having conceded at least 2 goals to clangers. As it turned out, the goal on the siren to the Demons may have been unavoidable; but had other choices been taken, things might have been as much as 12 points different.
Q2
At the start of the quarter, Langdon butchered what should have been a regulation pass to a teammate running towards goal. On replay, it looks like he has decided to take a shot from 45m - OOF. Dirty Harry: A man's got to know his limitations.
A few minutes later, after a scrimmage, De Goey goals from 2m.
Fasolo centres to Aish: mark, goal to regain the lead. Turn over, Sidebottom plays on and kicks to Crocker: mark, wide - but the ball spills, another scrimmage, a Demon is penalised for deliberate OOB. Aish passes to Fasolo: mark, play on, goal.
20m out, Adams handpass to Fasolo who bats it to Crocker: goal. From the next bounce, the Pies rush the ball forwards, Aish, Brown (who is showing he can handle the heat), Broomhead, Treloar on 50, handpasses back to Broomhead who kept running, runs to 35 - and misses; deserved better. Collingwood on fire - getting repeated entries into F50.
The Demons were constantly under pressure. Trying to clear, they instead found Phillips 25m out: goal. A contest outside 50, Phillips threads a needle to find Sidebottom 35m out: mark, goal.
And then The Footy Bogan's worst nightmare: after a Demon behind, Langdon takes the kick in - oh, no! It barely reaches Josh Smith who is forced out of bounds in the pocket. Hey, Buckley. Langdon should never be allowed to kick in. Kicking-in is as specialised a position as ruckman or key position player.
The Pies dodged a bullet, but something - stupidity, lack of focus, overconfidence, lack of confidence? - seeped in. Treloar did an excellent job of finding Hoskin-Elliott 70m from the Demon goal, on the flank. He passed inboard to Adams, his erstwhile GWS teammate (so actually 3 GWS teammates in a row). Perhaps he should have known better. Adams, a notoriously iffy user, decided on a high-risk across-the-ground pass to Crisp. How do we know it was high-risk? Because Crisp didn't get his hands to the ball. It was intercepted by Petracca who marked and passed to Garlett for an easy goal. A man's got to know his limitations. And someone has to teach Adams (and maybe Hoskin-Elliott) risk analysis.
By the way, the commentary shows that the putative pundits are equally stupid. As Adams kicks, we hear, "Happy to switch things up," as if there was ever a scintilla of merit in the play. No, there wasn't.
The Demons got their first genuine goal of the quarter (not a result of Collingwood stupidity).
Greenwood kicked inside F50, where Moore should have gobbled it up, but Moore was having a - what's the opposite of purple patch?
Then Howe took a candidate for Mark of the Year. He kicked into F50, but the thrust was repelled. The Demons banged it back to the wing, but the Pies sent it into F50 through Dunn. Moore ended up in Lewis's back and again the Demons repelled a forward foray. Howe took another great mark in the same position. This time he centred the ball to Maynard who, with his non-preferred right, found Moore 20m out: mark and goal after the siren.
The Pies had kicked 7 goals to 2 (should have been 1) for the quarter. They were on a roll. How can you lose from there? Watch and learn.
Q3
Watching the replay, I get the impression that panic set in. The Pies constantly butchered the ball. They had a moment or two in the sun, but when the dust had settled they had lost the quarter 2.3-6.3, and the lead.
Q4
The Demons missed two fairly difficult shots for goal. Then Greenwood, courtesy of a 50m penalty had a set shot from 30m, his easiest shot of the day - and missed. The footy gods can be very harsh on those who don't take their opportunities.
Smith made an uncharacteristic mistake coming out of defence; it only cost a point, but it had looked like the Pies were out the back in and in the clear - so the opportunity cost may have been greater.
The Demons increased their 1-point lead by tiny increments. Then they kicked a goal. The Pies answered that and each subsequent goal, the last on the siren. But the best they could do was play catch-up.
The wrap
Although no one could call the footy in this match unwatchable, it was nonetheless frustrating. The Demons were substantially undermanned; if ever there was a vulnerable team, this was it. And the second quarter reinforced that idea.
But few teams win games on the back of a single quarter, especially since almost all the good work of Q2 was undone by Q3. The teams went into the final quarter effectively equal.
Good teams find ways to win. We didn't.
Since the Pies had the ascendancy half-way through the game, it was clear that Buckley was outcoached in the third quarter. He had 30-60 minutes to come up with a response - and didn't. If nothing else, he should have tried to change the tempo of the third quarter.
This is the sixth year of McGuire/Buckley, our sixth year in the wilderness. Surely that's the equivalent of 40 Israelite years; surely it's enough.
Sources, Notes, Footnotes, References
http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_match_statistics?mid=9408
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